As the Trump administration continues to deal with bipartisan scrutiny over its controversial and possibly illegal program of bombing suspected drug boats, new details are emerging about internal dissent about the policy. A report citing Pentagon sources has shed new light on the sudden retirement of one of the U.S. military’s top Black officers, with insiders claiming he was pushed out over his opposition to the strikes against alleged drug traffickers.
‘You’re either on the team or you’re not’
The Wall Street Journal reported that Admiral Alvin Holsey’s unexpected retirement announcement in October came at the request of Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who asked for the admiral’s retirement over disagreements about the drug boat strikes. Holsey had recently been appointed commander of U.S. Southern Command, a position that controlled U.S. military operations in Latin America and the Caribbean. According to two unnamed Pentagon sources, Holsey questioned the legality of the boat strikes being carried out under his command, causing Hegseth to question Holsey’s leadership, according to The Wall Street Journal. Hegseth allegedly said to Holsey, “You’re either on the team or you’re not,” also telling Holsey, “When you get an order, you move out fast and don’t ask questions,” per The Wall Street Journal. The sources also indicated Hegseth believed Holsey could be behind the leaking of information about the strikes to the press. These disagreements led Hegseth to ask for Holsey’s resignation, the sources claimed.
Holsey’s departure part of larger pattern under Trump
As Blavity previously reported, Holsey’s sudden resignation was unexpected, as he had recently been appointed to his position at the head of U.S. Southern Command. His departure was one of several instances in which Black or women military leaders left their positions under President Donald Trump and Hegseth, who have consistently railed against “wokeness” in the military and government. At the time of Holsey’s departure, sources indicated that he had concerns about the legality of the policy of striking drug boats and had largely been cut out of the decision-making process concerning the strikes. The new details emerging this week highlight the severity of those disagreements and the alleged response from Hegseth, who publicly praised Holsey when the admiral retired.
Drug boat bombings face scrutiny from media, Congress
The controversial drug boat strikes have received new scrutiny from the media and both parties after a report by The Washington Post indicated that the initial strike in September included a previously unreported second bombing that killed two people who survived the initial strike against the boat. Such a second strike to kill survivors could constitute a war crime, according to legal experts. The Washington Post reported that this second strike was done to comply with a verbal order by Hegseth to kill everyone aboard the vessel. Since the report, Hegseth and other Trump administration officials have shifted their stories concerning the second strike during the September operation. Trump and Hegseth have defended the second bombing as a legal act of war, while appearing to shift responsibility for giving the second strike order to Admiral Frank Bradley, head of U.S. Special Operations Command. Lawmakers from both parties have demanded answers concerning the operation, and Bradley is scheduled to appear before leaders of the House and Senate Armed Services and Intelligence committees to answer questions about the strikes.
With new details continuing to emerge and the Trump administration scrambling to deflect blame, it appears that Holsey’s concerns were well-founded. Though his retirement from one of the most powerful U.S. military positions was sudden and unexpected, the potential legal trouble facing members of the military and the Trump administration show that Holsey’s departure, even if forced from above, may have removed him from a politically and legally dangerous situation.